Oriented on making people closer

The First Forum of Analytical Centers of Central Asian and Gulf Cooperation Council Countries opened in Tashkent on Monday, April 28. The event, designed to set new vectors for interregional cooperation, is held under the topical and ambitious theme of “Strengthening Strategic Partnership: From Historical Ties to Comprehensive Cooperation,” emphasizing the desire for qualitative growth of relations.

The organizers of this representative expert dialogue were the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the leading Saudi research center “Gulf Research Center.”

The forum brought together more than 70 highly qualified and authoritative experts from Central Asian and GCC countries on one authoritative platform. Representatives of the GCC Secretariat, the diplomatic corps, and business circles of the two vast and strategically important macro-regions were also invited to the discussions. Turkmenistan is represented at such an important forum by director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Shiri Shiriev, and senior researcher of this center, Bekdurdy Amansaryev.

The forum's busy agenda focuses on examining key aspects of the current state and developing prospects for future cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and the Gulf Arab States. Participants are paying close attention to strengthening political dialogue and coordinating agreed approaches to ensuring regional security, as well as ways to deepen trade and investment ties. Particular emphasis is placed on the implementation of promising joint projects in the dynamically developing field of "green" energy and the strategic development of transport corridors connecting the two regions.

Among the main expected practical results of the forum is the adoption of a joint statement, which should become an important guideline for further partnership, as well as the signing of a number of memorandums of cooperation between leading analytical centers of Central Asia and the GCC. It is assumed that these documents will lay a solid foundation for establishing systemic, long-term and fruitful interaction between the expert communities of the two regions, facilitating regular knowledge sharing and joint analytical work.

Moreover, the recommendations developed during the Tashkent forum are intended to become a significant and direct contribution to the formation and enrichment of the agenda of the Second Summit of Leaders of the Countries in the format of "Central Asia - GCC", which is planned to be held in the historical city of Samarkand. This clearly demonstrates the practical value of expert dialogue and its direct connection with the process of making the most important political and economic decisions at the highest level.

In general, the work of the First Forum of Think Tanks in Tashkent is intended to make a significant contribution to strengthening the long-term and multifaceted strategic partnership between Central Asia and the Gulf countries. The event allows not only to revive and actualize the common historical and cultural heritage, but also to set new, clear guidelines for the development of a comprehensive and mutually beneficial dialogue between the two macro-regions in response to modern global challenges.

ORIENT

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